THE  AMERICAN 
JOURNAL  OF  PHARMACY 
JANUARY,  1904. 
JOHN  MORGAN, 
THE  FOUNDER  OF  THE  FIRST  MEDICAL  SCHOOL  AND  THE  ORIGINATOR 
OF  PHARMACY  IN  AMERICA. 
BY  M.  I.  WlLBERT, 
Apothecary  at  the  German  Hospital,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 
John  Morgan,  by  far  the  most  erudite  and  in  many  respects  the 
most  noble  and  interesting  character  in  colonial  medicine,  contrib- 
uted more  than  any  one  other  individual  to  establish  and  to  pro- 
mote medical  teaching,  medical  ethics  and  medical  progress  in 
America. 
A  simple  enumeration  of  some  of  his  claims  to  priority  will  bring 
to  mind  the  nature  and  variety  of  his  accomplishments.  He  was 
the  founder  of  medical  training,  and  was  elected  the  first  professor 
of  medicine  in  a  recognized  chartered  college.  He  was  one  of  the 
founders  of  the  first  medical  society  in  Philadelphia. 
He  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  American  Philosophical  So- 
ciety. He  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  College  of  Physicians  of 
Philadelphia,  was  the  first  to  suggest  the  necessity  or  use  of  such 
an  institution,  and  among  the  first  to  donate  books  with  a  view  of 
creating  a  library. 
What  is  perhaps  of  more  interest  to  us  as  pharmacists,  however, 
is  the  fact  that  Dr.  Morgan  was  the  first,  and  for  many  years  the 
only,  practitioner  in  America  to  suggest  and  follow  the  practice  of 
writing  prescriptions,  and  having  his  medicines  dispensed  by  a 
qualified  apothecary. 
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